Best Royalty-Free B-Roll for Commercial Use (Licenses Compared)

Envato, formerly Envato Elements, is an unlimited-download subscription covering stock video, music, templates and graphics. Envato states that every stock item carries the same license for commercial use, including client work and monetization, and its help center says crediting the author is not mandatory.

Each download creates a license for one specific project, and using the same clip in a new project means registering a new license. If you unsubscribe, Envato says you cannot use items in new projects, but existing licensed uses stay covered forever. Hand clients the finished video, not the raw clips: a client who wants to reuse an asset needs their own subscription.

Monetized videos and ads: yes, Envato says its license covers monetized content and paid advertising. Products you sell: only where you have added meaningful value, for example by building the item into a larger product, and never through print-on-demand or on-demand merchandise services.

Jupitrr is a talking-head video editor, not a stock library. There is no blank timeline to start: upload a video and Jupitrr’s AI B-roll generator reads your transcript, matches B-roll to what you say, and brings you the first cut. No editing experience required. You then swap, trim or restyle any clip on the timeline.

Jupitrr places clips from Getty Images and iStock (on paid plans), Pexels and web images. Its terms say it does not guarantee that B-roll is free of usage rights, and that you are responsible for verifying licensing for your use. So for monetized videos, ads or products you sell, check each clip’s license the same way you would on the source site, and confirm the rights of every web image, even when a Creative Commons or commercial label is shown.

Getty Images and its lower-cost sister library iStock sell royalty-free footage on a perpetual license: Getty’s license calls royalty-free use worldwide, unlimited and perpetual, and iStock says there is no end date on your rights to content downloaded during your agreement. Neither needs a photo credit for commercial use, but video differs: iStock requires a credit in visual productions where technically feasible, and Getty requires one where your production credits other providers of licensed material. Getty also sells rights-ready footage licensed for a specific use.

The main differentiator is legal backing. Getty’s license includes a written warranty that royalty-free, non-editorial content used as delivered will not infringe, and that warranty covers audio that is part of the video unless otherwise indicated. The main trap is editorial-only content, which cannot be used in ads, promotions or endorsements and needs a credit when used editorially.

Monetized videos and ads: yes for royalty-free creative clips, but not for editorial-only clips, and both licenses require a “posed by model” style disclaimer when people appear next to unflattering or controversial subjects. Products you sell: iStock’s standard license bans goods for resale where the main value is the content itself, such as apparel, posters or calendars, unless you buy an extended license, and caps print runs at 500,000. Getty’s royalty-free terms bar on-demand products, resale templates and standalone files unless your order says otherwise.

Storyblocks offers unlimited downloads of 8K, 4K and HD footage, with music and sound effects on Unlimited All Access. The Individual license permits commercial work you do directly for your own clients, as long as you are the only person doing that work. Teams need a Small Business or Business license.

After you cancel, the Individual license keeps covering stock incorporated into works completed during a paid subscription; new projects published later are not covered, and you cannot re-download files. The Individual license also excludes broadcast, TV, OTT and political uses unless your plan says otherwise, and you may not hand raw files to clients.

Monetized videos and ads: yes online; broadcast, TV and OTT need the Business license. Products you sell: the licenses list merchandise among the media a finished work can be, but bar on-demand products, templates for third parties and offering a clip as a standalone file. Storyblocks also bars uses tied to unflattering or unduly controversial subjects.

The Pexels License says all photos and videos are free to use, attribution is not required, and you can modify them. That makes it the strongest free source for commercial B-roll, and it carries no subscription, so there is nothing to lose when you stop using it.

The limits matter for ads: do not imply that people or brands in a clip endorse your product, do not show identifiable people in an offensive way, and do not use clips in a trademark or business name. Pexels does not issue releases or a warranty, so for paid campaigns with recognizable faces, a released clip from a paid library is the safer choice. Compare more free sources in our free B-roll websites guide.

Monetized videos and ads: yes, and the license names ads and marketing campaigns. Products you sell: only after you modify the content, since Pexels bans selling unaltered copies as a poster, print or physical product.

Mixkit, run by Envato, has a smaller curated library with no signup and no watermark. Its Stock Video Free License covers commercial projects, naming YouTube videos, social media marketing and online ads, with no attribution required.

Licensing is per clip. Some clips carry the Stock Video Restricted License instead, which allows only personal, non-commercial projects and excludes monetized content. The license is shown on each clip page, so check it before you download for a commercial project.

Monetized videos and ads: yes on Free License clips, no on Restricted License clips, which exclude advertising and monetized YouTube videos. Products you sell: Mixkit’s user terms bar selling copies without altering them with your own skill and other elements, and say printing an item on a mug or shirt is not enough alteration.

Coverr’s license lets you use its videos and music for commercial and non-commercial purposes at no cost, with no attribution required. Its themed categories and dedicated vertical section suit short-form B-roll.

Coverr is unusually explicit about what it does not cover. It says it obtains model releases for people in its clips but does not provide them to users, holds no releases for brands, trademarks, identifiable properties or landmarks, and says permission from brand owners may be needed for logos in its clips. The license also bans using its videos to train AI models.

Monetized videos and ads: yes, as commercial use. Products you sell: Coverr says its videos cannot be resold or offered as part of services such as stock sites, themes or app builders, and its license does not address merchandise, so ask Coverr before putting a clip on a physical product.